Childhood Times
by ruthc93
Summary: A story set ten years ago, about a future keiji and a would-be detective, how they met, and their little two-week adventure. CHAPTER 9 UP finally... !
1. Chapter 1

**This came from a plunnie that decided to attack me at eleven o'clock last night when I was lying in my bed and it **_**just won't go away**_**!**

**In this story, things are about ten years back.**

**Midori: Detective Conan belongs to Ruth-sama…no wait, it doesn't! Who changed the script?!**

**Me: *inches away carefully***

_**Childhood Times**_

_**Chapter 1**_

Takagi Wataru sat casually on one of the swings in the playground during break. Everything was good. The trees were green, the flowers were red (and yellow and purple and orange and blue…dang, back to the story), and the sky was blue.

That is, until something blocked his view to the big blue nothingness. Or rather, some_one_.

"Oi, Takagi! Don't you know that if you keep holding your head that way, you can sprain your neck?" That someone sneered. Wataru blanched. The boy that's in front of him is Kurosawa Shinto, the biggest bully in his class. No, scratch that. More like in the entire _school_.

"Wh-what do you want, Kurosawa-kun?" Wataru stammered. Lately, the bully had decided to visit him more often than he'd liked. And every time, it's never something good. Kurosawa snickered and snapped his fingers. The group of boys that always followed him suddenly appeared from seemingly out of no where. Wataru quickly looked for a way to escape, but one of the boys suddenly twisted his arm behind his back and forced him onto his knees. Wataru yelped.

Kurosawa smirked and leaned down so he was at an eye level with his squirming classmate. "Nothing much. I just want ten thousand yen, that's all."

"T-_ten thousand yen_?!" Wataru squeaked.

"Yes, ten thousand yen. I'm a little short on money these days. Of course, I immediately thought about you, who had helped me out so many times before." Kurosawa said with mock gratitude. "You _will_ help me out, right?"

"B-but I don't have tha-" Wataru yelped again as the boy holding him twisted his arm even more. He could feel the tears threatening to roll down his cheek any second. _No! I can't cry! Not now, especially not in front of HIM!_Wataru said to himself.

"I'm sure you understand. If you refuse, we'll going to have a little…_talk_at our base." The larger kid said as he smacked his fist against the other hand when he said "talk". Wataru shuddered. He had been to their base before, and he still has some bruises to prove that "talk" is way too much of an understatement.

"So, what do you say?" Wataru was about to answer when another voice came out.

"Hey! Leave him alone!"

All the boys turned their heads to the source of the voice. Standing there was a boy much younger than them, wearing a Teitan Elementary sports uniform, and has a determined look on his face.

"What now, Takagi? Need a little baby to save your butt?" Kurosawa sneered, completely ignoring the boy. The boy, upon hearing this, crossed his arms, "I'm not a little baby. I'm in first grade!"

"Don't come here, boya! Get away from here!" Wataru yelled, fearing that the provoked Kurosawa will hurt the younger boy. But the boy took a step towards the group, "I heard what you were saying to that onii-san! Tou-san said that's called blackmailing! You can get arrested for this!" Kurosawa straightened from his stop in front of Wataru and walked over to the kid. "So what, kozo? Who's gonna arrest us?"

"Tou-san and I know people from the police! I'll tell Megure-keibu and you'll all get charged." The boy shot back with brimming confidence. Kurosawa's bully-image faltered for a moment when he realized that the younger boy was telling the truth. "Tch." He turned and snapped his fingers. The rest of the boys let go of Wataru and followed their leader. Wataru watched them walk away while holding his hurting shoulder.

"Ne, are you okay, onii-san?" The boy's voice sounded to his right. Wataru turned his head to look at his little savior. "Yeah, I'm alright. You were pretty brave back then."

"Tou-san said we should stop anything un-justice from happening." The boy replied with a smile. Wataru looked at him with amusement. This boy sure likes his tou-san. Wataru smiled.

"I'm Takagi Wataru from Grade 6 Class B, what about you?" Wataru asked. The boy beamed at him, "I'm Kudou Shinichi from Grade 1 Class A. Yoroshiku ne, Wataru-senpai!"

_**To be continued…**_

**Well, should I continue? I have some pretty good ideas for this. The problem with me is that I can hardly finish any chapter stories. XD**

**Tell me what you think and if I should continue by leaving me a review!**

**~ruth~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I didn't think there'd be so many people that want to read this! Now I feel confident!**

**This chapter is a bit longer. I can't say how long the other chapters will be. It really depends on how I want to end each chapter. XD**

**Midori: Don't own, never did, never will.**

_**Chapter 2**_

"Tadaima!" Shinichi shouted as he entered his home. He was happy. He made a new friend at school and he had saved said friend from a bunch of bullies. Nothing could make him frown right now.

_BOOOOM!!!_

Okay, so maybe a little something.

"Cough…Okaeri, Shinichi…cough, cough…" Said his father as Yuusaku came out of the smoke filled kitchen.

"Tou-san, did you put the egg in the microwave, _again_?" Shinichi inquired as he placed his backpack on the floor and walked over to his father. Yuusaku gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head. "Um…yeah, well…"

"Even after Kaa-san left you a note on all the things you shouldn't do in the kitchen!" Shinichi said with half-mooned eyes. "A very, very _long_ note, too." He added before looking past Yuusaku's legs into the kitchen. Indeed, the brand-new and white microwave is now crisp-black and broken. The smoke was filling up most of the ceiling, and Yuusaku's pen could be seen lying a few inches away from the "crime-scene".

"So…what about pizza for dinner, Shinichi?" Yuusaku asked his son. His son looked up at him, "Well, I guess that's one of the good things about you blowing up the kitchen." Then he bounded away with his backpack to his room while yelling, "Yay, PIZZA!!!"

Yuusaku smiled as he watched his son disappear down the hall, then he looked back into the kitchen and winced. Oh, Yukiko's gonna kill him…

An hour later, the ordered pizza is set neatly on the table along with a bottle of Pepsi Cola. Father and son sat down at the said table and Shinichi started their meal with a loud, "Itadakimasu!"

"Tou-san, I made a new friend at school today." Shinichi said as he stuffed half a piece of pizza into his mouth. Yuusaku raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What's his name?"

"He's Takagi Wataru from Grade 6 Class A." Shinichi munched out before stuffing the rest of the piece of pizza into his mouth.

"Grade 6?" Yuusaku frowned. What is his son doing with someone five or six years his senior? "Did he give you anything?" Maybe the boy was using something to tempt Shinichi!

"No, just his name. The bell rang right after that. He waved good bye at me after school."

"So how did you meet?"

"There were some bullies bullying him. I saved him. The head-bully didn't even touch me." Shinichi said proudly. Then he chugged down half a glass of Pepsi. Yuusaku watched in amusement as his son tried to chug more Pepsi while still having a bite of pizza in his mouth. He then thought more about the new friend Shinichi just told him about. It didn't sound like this Wataru kid is dangerous. But you never know. Yuusaku is determined to meet this boy personally.

"Shinichi? Why don't I pick you up at school tomorrow?"

"Huh? Why?" Shinichi asked, his mouth full with pizza.

"I'm going to the bookstore and I don't want you to be home alone." Yuusaku quickly thought of the excuse. "You know, with Agasa-hakase, Kaa-san and the Mouri's in America, you're probably pretty lonely. So why don't you bring that Wataru-kun with you?"

Shinichi frowned a little at the mention of the good doctor, his mother, and his best friend's family. They are all on a two-week trip to the States right now, so that just leaves Shinichi and Yuusaku to fend for themselves for two weeks. Oh, the horror.

"Sure, I'll ask Wataru-senpai tomorrow." Shinichi replied. He refilled his mouth with more Pepsi and continued his little episode of pizza-devouring.

Yuusaku smiled. His plan had worked. _Wataru-kun, here I come._

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

Wataru sneezed. Weird, it's not like he has a cold…

The future keiji sat in his room. He's trying to do his home work, but his mind can't help but think back to the kid that saved him.

Kudou Shinichi…

He's sure he heard that surname _somewhere_ before, but he just can't remember.

Shinichi-kun was pretty cute. His hair was interesting enough as it is, but what really got Wataru were the eyes, the big, clear-blue eyes that looked like they could see through anything.

He sighed as he tried to work out the next math equation.

An hour later, he closed his math book and flopped onto his bed. Man, he _hates_ math.

"Wataru! Dinner's ready!" His father called.

"Hai!" He replied as he bounded off the bed and went to the dining room. His father was an excellent cook (unlike a _certain _father that we know. Inside the Kudou mansion, Yuusaku sneezed).

The boy sat down at the table. He then noticed the absence of one of the family members. "Where's Okaa-san?"

"She left a few minutes ago for a business trip to Tottori." His father said as he set down the last plate. Wataru frowned. His mother is always away on some business trip. Sure, it means that she's doing pretty well in her company, but sometimes he wished his mother would be home more often.

"Itadakimasu." Wataru said and picked up his chopsticks. Wataru had always marveled at how good his father can cook. He already made up his mind to learn every technique from his father. As he stuffed some of the delicious food into his mouth, his father asked the question he always asked during dinner, "So, how was school?"

"It was okay." Wataru carefully avoided his father's eyes and stared at the plate in front of him.

"Come on, Wataru. Don't give me that. That time you came back with bruises all over your body, you said, 'It was okay.', too." Wataru blushed. It was true that even at times when it's so obvious that he's not okay, he says the opposite. He just didn't want his father to worry. But he felt that his father often mistook it as a way to avoid the question and hide things.

"No, really. Nothing happened." _Well, something _almost _happened. But Otou-san doesn't need to know that. _He added to himself. There was a long period of silence. The only sounds were the chopsticks occasionally hitting against the plates and bowls. His father then sighed, "Look, Wataru. It's fine if you don't want to tell me. I trust you to do the right thing, okay?"

"Sure." Wataru inwardly sighed with relief. He was glad that the subject was dropped.

Later, Wataru picked up the newspaper. Nothing's as good as some manga after dinner. As he flipped to the manga section, his eyes caught something that made him flip back.

_MYSTERY WRITER STOPS MYSTERIOUS THIEF_

No, not the headline. The picture _under_ the headline. And the name.

There was a picture of the writer that looked suspiciously like Shinichi, and the name was printed beneath it in neat kanji.

_Kudou Yuusaku_

Wataru wasn't quite sure of _what_ to think when it hit him that he had befriended a country-famous**(1)** writer's son.

_**To be continued…**_

**Yes, it is necessary to push all the others out of the way. It is a very important thing in this plot. That's all I'm saying. XD**

**(1)- I'm not sure just how famous Yuusaku was ten years ago. But, in that file about Shinichi and Ran's childhood adventure, Yuusaku had pulled out the phone cord so he can "concentrate on the manuscript before the deadlines", as he himself said. So I'm guessing he was already pretty well-known then.**

**Reviews make me happy!**

**~ruth~**


	3. Chapter 3

**And here comes chapter three~~~**

**Those that had actually read my summary would notice the small change in words. Instead of one-week adventure, it's now two-week adventure. Because I did some recalculating and found out one week isn't enough for what I had in plan for them. XD**

**I figure I'd start replying the review here. It's easier to make sure that I didn't miss anyone.**

_**KeRose**_**- I am a little sensitive to incorrect grammar. I hate reading a story that has uncountable mistakes and error in just grammar, to say nothing about spelling. As for why I need to push everyone out of the way, *insert the evilest laughter you had ever heard here*, you'll find out as the story continues. I'm eeeeeviiiiiiiiiiil.**

_**Yolapeoples**_**- Yes, Yuusaku needs to hide. XD Thank you!**

_**Merialle**_**- Yup, none of the men in the Kudou family can cook. It's a good thing that Yuusaku has Yukiko and Shinichi has Ran. XD And you're the second person to comment on my lack of grammar errors. What, are they expected? XP**

_**Katiesparks**_**- …and pounce on Wataru he will! LOL.**

_**Ziraulo**_**- Well, you can see it now! And Merry Christmas to you, too! =D**

**Midori: Don't own Detective Conan, aka Meitantei Konan, aka Cas-**

**Me: NO! Don't say it!**

_**Chapter 3**_

Life wasn't fair.

Wataru came to this conclusion as his backed up into wall behind him. Really, of all the boys in his class- in his _grade_- why _him_?!

"Nowhere to run now, Takagi." Kurosawa cooed as he shortened the distance between himself and the other boy. Wataru gulped before trying to duck left, but a hand grabbed his collar and slammed him back against the wall. Kurosawa smirked when Wataru's face showed obvious traces of pain. "I still haven't gotten back at you for the humiliation yesterday."

The bully cracked his knuckles and lifted Wataru a little by his collar. "Still, I'll make you an offer." This wasn't what Wataru expected. More curious than afraid, he listened. "That kozo yesterday…he introduced himself to you, right?" _Kozo…does he mean Shinichi-kun?_ Wataru nodded weakly. He already has a bad feeling about this.

"Well, here's the offer. You tell me which class that kozo is in, and I'll let you go today. Accept that?"

Wataru's eyes widened. _If…if I tell him…he'll let me go…?_ He immediately hated himself for thinking that, and even more for feeling so hopeful. _No! If I _do_ tell him, who knows_ what_ he'd do to Shinichi-kun…_

"No." He croaked.

"What?" Kurosawa looked genuinely surprised. Clearing his voice a little, Wataru tried again, "Forget it. Not telling. You're not going to hurt Shinichi-kun, not if I can help it." He sounded a lot braver than he felt, and Wataru waited in dread of what's to come as Kurosawa just stared at him, slightly amused.

Then he smirked.

"Brave words from someone who can't even help himself!"

He pulled back his fist and sent it flying.

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

Shinichi walked into the bathroom to wash his hands, dirty from the clay and markers they were using for art class.

There was already someone there, hunched over one of the sinks as if washing his face. Shinichi went to the one beside the person and began washing his hands. After a few seconds, the person raised his head and Shinichi beamed as he realized who it was.

"Wataru-senpai!"

"Ah, Shinichi-kun." The older boy smiled when he saw Shinichi.

"What happened to your arms?" Shinichi asked before Wataru could say anything else. Wataru blinked at this seemingly out-of-the-blue question, "Huh?"

"Well, most people roll up their sleeves when they use the sink. You didn't, and your sleeves are still wet, so that mean you're hiding something, ne?"

Wataru paled a little. When did 1st graders become so observant? "Chi-chigau, there's nothing wrong with them." Shinichi looked at him in the face and Wataru found himself looking into those huge, blue orbs again. _Like they could see through anything…_

"You're lying." Shinichi deadpanned after a while. Wataru gulped and tried to turn away. Then he hissed in pain when Shinichi, without warning, grabbed his arm. Shinichi looked at him with surprise, "…you're hurt?"

Wataru was in too much pain to reply.

Shinichi then rolled up the sleeve of the arm he's holding and gasped. "Your arm's all swollen!"

Wataru could only nod.

Shinichi stared at the black-and-purple blots on his friend's arm. "Wataru-senpai…you need to go to the infirmary!" But to his surprise, Wataru paled even more, "N-no! I can't go there! They'll find out about…" Wataru stopped abruptly and looked away. Shinichi frowned. Wataru-senpai is hiding something, but what? Shinichi was determined to find out.

Wataru yelped when the future meitantei grabbed his arm again and dragged him out into the hallway. "You're going to the infirmary whether you like it or not!" Shinichi declared as he half-pulled, half-led his senpai down the hall.

Five minutes later, Wataru was sitting nervously in one of the chairs in the infirmary as the nurse looked at his swollen arms with wide eyes.

"Young man, and just where did you get these bruises?" The nurse inquired.

"At school." Wataru answered quietly.

"_When_?"

Wataru bit his lips. In truth, whenever Kurosawa decided to land a few blows on him, he always made sure that the punches landed on his arms by shielding his head with them. Bruises on arms are easier to hide than a black-eye.

"Well…"

"It was that Kurosawa person, wasn't it?"

Wataru almost jumped when Shinichi spoke up next to him. He silently wished that the nurse would just ignore what the kid said. The nurse, however, thought that what Shinichi said was interesting.

"What about this Kurosawa-kun, Kudou-kun?"

"Yesterday, I saw him blackmailing Wataru-senpai."

"Oh, really?" The nurse shot Wataru a _look_. Wataru gulped. "And exactly _how long_ had this kind of thing been happening?"

Shinichi looked at Wataru, "I don't know. How long has it, Wataru-senpai?"

As the two sets of eyes both placed themselves on him, Wataru couldn't help but shiver slightly. The nurse's eyes were intimidating enough, but to add Shinichi's…

_Like they can see through everything…_

Wataru caved.

"It started about two months ago…"

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

It was amazing, Wataru marveled, how things could all change in such a short time.

Just one hour ago, he had been a weak sixth grader that was bullied by his classmate. Now, although still weak, he's free from the bullying because the said classmate is now suspended **(1)**.

All because of his chance encounter with a certain sharp-minded first grader in the bathroom.

Wataru is now sitting in the principle's office, waiting to be dismissed. Kurosawa was being escorted out of the office by his mother. As he went pass Wataru, he hissed at him. That earned him a slap from his mother. "Shinto! Had you learned nothing from this suspension? Shame on you for trying to hurt Takagi-kun again!" His mother then grabbed him by the ear and led him out of the room.

Kurosawa's yelps could be heard in the entire hallway.

Wataru, still a bit stunned by the scene that had just played out before him, turned his head and met his eyes with Shinichi's, who was sitting beside him. They burst out laughing.

Shinichi was there to act as a VIW (very important witness), and he did an excellent job of it, too (by screaming really loudly that Kurosawa was the one he saw blackmailing Wataru yesterday as soon as the bully set his foot inside the office).

The sound of someone clearing his voice stopped their laughter and they did their best not to laugh again as the principle rambled on about needing to look out more so that no one is bullied anymore. Then he dismissed them.

As Shinichi and Wataru walked down the hall together, the older boy smiled. "I'm really glad I met you, Shinichi-kun." He said, "If it weren't for you, well, Kurosawa-kun would probably still be at large." Shinichi smiled up at him and nodded, "Don't worry about it. It was what I should do."

Wataru blinked. It's weird, hearing such responsible and mature words coming from a person five to six years younger than him. But then again, it's Shinichi. He's full of surprises.

"Ah, souka." Shinichi suddenly said. Then he stopped and turned to face Wataru. "Tou-san and I are going to the bookstore after school. Do you want to come along?"

"Eh?" Wataru asked, a little thrown off by this random question. "…oh…sure, as long as I get home by six."

"Alright then!" Shinichi beamed before running down the hallway. "See you at the shoe boxes after school!"

"Sure…" Wataru answered while watching Shinichi's small figure disappear around the corner. He smiled.

_Yeah…see you after school._

_**To be continued…**_

**(1)- I have no idea what the punishment for bullying in Japanese schools are. O.O So DO NOT take my word for it, alright?**

**This is no where near the end, folks. The climax is still a long way to come!**

**Reviews are gold. Favorites and alerts are silver. Reading is copper. So please, give as much gold as you can!**

**Next up- Yuusaku meets Wataru! What will our anti-kitchen father think about our (will be) favorite keiji? And what's gonna happen during their trip to the bookstore?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four's here, peoples!**

**I realized that I forgot to write my siggy at the end of chapter three. Wanted to fix it, but that would mean trashing away five reviews and who-know-how-many pageviews.**

**Here are the review replies!**

_**Ziraulo­**_**- Really? That's just cool. Here's the update!**

_**Merialle**_**- Well…let's just say that there **_**will**_** be some surprise guests in the future chapters, but I'm not saying who! *cackles evilly***

_**Katiesparks**_**- …I don't really have a reply for that. XD**

_**Yolapeoples**_**- Yes! GOOOLD!!! And thank you so much for loving my story! *hugs***

_**Vixeriffic**_**- Actually, it is Wataru-senpai. XD PS- You gonna update your 30 Ways? It's been a long time since our last PM!**

**Midori: I tired of saying this…**

**Me: The heck I care, say it! You only have to say it, like, twice a week!**

**Midori: *mumbles* Don't own DC.**

_**Chapter 4**_

Shinichi ran down the hall, trying to find the Grade 6 shoebox area. If Grade 1 is in the front, then Grade 6 should be in the back…

Aha! Found it!

Shinichi quickly looked around for a few seconds, and then he quickly saw the person he was looking for.

"Wataru-senpai!" Shinichi called out to the older kid. Wataru was just putting his indoors shoes into his shoebox. He waved.

Seconds later, the two different aged boys walked towards the main entrance. Wataru decided to start a conversation. "So…Shinichi-kun, do you have any friends?"

"Well, I do have some friends in my class. But Kaa-san took my best friend's family to America last Saturday, supposedly to 'have some early fun' before our one-week spring break. They're not coming back until spring break is over." Shinichi said. Wataru could hear some traces of disappointment in his voice. Wataru then frowned. Spring break is coming next week. And today's Wednesday…

Wataru found it weird that a mother would just leave her first-grade son with a famous writer father for two whole weeks. Not to mention taking the boy's best friend's family away with her, too.

But then again, if Shinichi is so extraordinary, who knows what the rest of the Kudou family is like?

"Do you have any friends?" Shinichi threw the question back at him. Wataru thought for a moment. Then he blushed, "Actually, no, not a lot." He looked down at his feet as they continued walking, "My classmates mostly avoid me because Kurosawa-kun once hurt a girl in my class that tried to defend me when he threatened me. The girl transferred to another school, and everyone's been staying away from me ever since."

Shinichi frowned. "No friends?" He thought about his soccer friends in class, then about Ran. What would it be like without them? Shinichi couldn't imagine it. "Daijoubu, I'll be your friend!" Shinichi stated as he smiled up at Wataru.

Wataru smiled back.

"Shinichi!" Someone called. The two boys turned their heads to see Yuusaku standing there, waving at them. Wataru stared. The man in front of them was wearing a hat, a trench coat, and a pair of sunglasses. It was almost impossible to tell that this was the man he saw in the newspaper yesterday.

"Tou-san!" Shinichi chirped before running up to the man. Wataru trailed after him. "How was school today?" Yuusaku asked as he ruffled Shinichi's hair. Shinichi dodged out of Yuusaku's reach, "It was great! The person that was blackmailing Wataru-senpai yesterday got suspended!"

"Oh, really?" Yuusaku looked up at Wataru, who had been silently watching the father and son moment. "I take it that you're the famous Wataru-senpai I kept hearing about?"

Wataru blushed and rubbed the back of his head, "I-iya…I'm no where near famous…"

Yuusaku studied the boy in front of him. Wataru only reached barely above Yuusaku's waist. He had messy dark-brown hair and pale grayish-purple eyes. It definitely didn't look like this boy could do any damage even if he wanted to.

"Ano…Kudou-san, is something wrong?" Wataru asked nervously when he realized Yuusaku was staring at him. Yuusaku shook his head, "Nothing. Oh, and just call me Yuusaku." Wataru nodded. Yuusaku-san, then.

"Tou-san was just checking to see if you're good enough to be with me." Shinichi piped up next to him. Yuusaku sweatdropped as Wataru stared at him with an incredulous look. He then smacked Shinichi lightly on the head, earning an "Ow!" as a protest from his son.

"So, are you ready to go to the bookstore?" Yuusaku asked them. Wataru nodded as Shinichi said, "Yeah!"

They were on their way.

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

The bookstore was empty.

Well, not like empty, empty, but like with-almost-no-one-in-it empty. Wataru doubted this bookstore had more than two workers.

"Kudou-sensei!" A man is his late forties behind the counter exclaimed, "It's so nice of you to drop in. Hiding from the editors again?"

"Yeah, they're so annoying at times." Yuusaku replied and shook hands with the other man. "I brought a few company, hope you won't mind."

"No, no. Shinichi-kun is always welcome. And who might this be?" The man asked when he noticed Wataru. Shinichi spoke up for him, "He's Takagi Wataru from Grade 6 Class B. Wataru-senpai, this is Nikiyo-san, the store owner." Wataru shook hands with Nikiyo.

"Well Wataru-kun, since you're new here, you need to know some rules." Nikiyo said sternly. Wataru gulped. "First, do not come in here not wanting to read a book. Second, do not leave until you've read a book. And lastly, enjoy every book that you read, understand?"

Wataru blinked. This wasn't what he had expected, not at all. "Hai, wakarimasu." He said with a smile. He already liked Nikiyo-san's sense of humor.

"Well, I'll be in the back working on my manuscripts. Shinichi, you go ahead and show Wataru-kun around." Yuusaku said as he walked past them. Shinichi nodded enthusiastically, "Hai!"

The rest of the afternoon was rather peaceful. Shinichi had shown Wataru how the books were organized, and Wataru cozy-ed himself in the mystery novels section. Yes, he liked mystery novels, but he's more addicted to action-type rather than the detecting-type like Sherlock Holmes, much to Shinichi's disappointment ("How could you like those more than Holmes's adventures?!").

As he placed his second Alex Rider series **(1)** back onto the shelf, Wataru noticed something.

Seriously, who could miss a shiny, gem-looking thing that's sitting behind the books?

Curiosity got the better of him and he reached into the space and pulled it out. It was a small, jade mouse that looked just beautiful. Wataru held up and examine the extreme details that were carved into the stone.

"Whatcha got there, Wataru-senpai?" Shinichi suddenly emerged into Wataru's line of vision. He almost fell over. Almost.

"Shinichi-kun! You have to stop appearing out of no where like that! You'll give me a heart attack one of these days."

"Gomene!" Shinichi said while sticking out his tongue. "So…what do you have there?" Wataru studied the mouse-figure in his hand and frowned. "I don't really know. What do you think it is?" Shinichi looked at the jade piece with a serious expression. "Hmmm…it looks expensive. Where did you find it?"

"In the back of the bookshelf."

"Maybe Nikiyo-san accidentally left it there when he was organizing the books." Shinichi said before running towards the counter. Wataru followed him. "Nikiyo-san! Is this yours?" Shinichi asked the balding man. Nikiyo adjusted his glasses and took the statue from the boy's hands. "Well, I'm certain that I've never seen this thing in my store before." He turned it over and over and asked them where they found it. After they told him, Nikiyo shrugged.

"It's not mine. But it could be Haruzame-kun's. He's the new helper I hired a few weeks ago."

The owner then turned and called out to the back of the store, "Haruzame-kun!" After a few moments, a man in his late twenties appeared at the door. "You called for me, Nikiyo-san?"

"Is this yours?" Nikiyo asked as his waved the jade mouse at him. Haruzame squinted at it. "No, I've never seen it before. Why?" Nikiyo pointed at Wataru and Shinichi. "These kids found it in one of the shelves. Since it wasn't mine, I thought that it could be yours." While saying that, Nikiyo had unintentionally lowered the statue to Shinichi's eye level. And knowing Shinichi, he kept staring at it until he noticed something.

"Ale? There's something engraved on it!" Though he said it out loud, Wataru was the only one that heard it. Wataru bent down and squinted. "Ah, honto da!" He confirmed. "It's a kanji…for 'mouse', I think. And there's a 'one' engraved by it, too."

"So…that's 'nezu-ichi', isn't it?" Shinichi asked. "Is that someone's name?" Wataru frowned, "No…it's more like 'the mouse is first', or something like that…"

They looked at the engraved kanji with their face screwed up in thinking. And they would have stayed that way, too, if Yuusaku hadn't interrupted them. "Shinichi, it's time to go home!" The writer called as he came up from behind. When he saw the kids' expressions, Yuusaku asked, "What's wrong?"

Wataru wanted to tell him and ask him for his help, but Shinichi cut him off. "Betsuni! Nothing's wrong!" Then he quickly put a finger to his lips as a sign for Wataru to be silent. Yuusaku seemed to buy it and he led the boys out of the store. When they were about 5 meters away, Wataru asked Shinichi why he didn't tell his father about the mouse.

"It's our game." Shinichi said bluntly. "I don't want Tou-san's help with this one. We can figure it out by ourselves." Wataru admired the younger boy's seemingly endless confidence. Most boys want their father to help them. Heck, that's another one to add to his mental "Kudou Shinichi's Fun Facts" list.

They said good bye as their paths took different directions. Wataru's mind slipped back to the jade mouse.

_The mouse is first…Nezu-ichi…_

Weird. He's sure he'd heard something similar to those phrases. But what?

_**To be continued…**_

**Whee! Chapter four is done!**

**(1)- Do not question my logic. I know that there's no way the heck Wataru could have ever even **_**heard**_** of the Alex Rider series ten years ago, but seriously, **_**you**_** try thinking up of another series when you haven't read any and have a limited time to research.**

**And it is totally unintentional that the chapters keep getting longer and longer. XD**

**Equation: Pageviews + Reviews – Flames = Happy Authoress**

**~ruth~**

**Next up: Wataru does some digging, while Shinichi does some research. When they meet at the bookstore again, what more will they find?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Whee! I'm actually keeping up with the whole an-update-per-four-days thing! YAY!!!**

**Ahem, anyways, review replies!**

_**Katiesparks**_**- Yes~ a mystery! XD**

_**Yin7**_**- Thanks!**

_**Miyanoai**_**- Thanks for the compliment!**

_**Yolapeoples**_**- Well, wait no more! For Chapter 5 is HERE!!!**

_**Merialle**_**- The plot…will be revealed in the following chapters. XD**

_**Nataeiy1**_**- I can't say much, but all I'm saying is that sadly, you're wrong. Sorry.**

_**The Shang Kudarung**_**- Well…by the fact that Shinichi had always lived under his father's wealth, he might very well be buying his three meals a day. Besides, if Ran's that good at cooking, what does Shinichi have to do when they're married? XD**

_**Ziraulo**_**- Actually, there's going to be more action in here than a regular kid is suppose to go through. But then again, what's regular with Shinichi?**

**NOTE- This is a special thanks to nataeiy1 and The Shang Kudarung, for these two had gone through the trouble of leaving a review for every chapter even though they read it after chapter 4 was updated. Thanks!**

**Tessa: Since Midori-chan is a bit sick, I've taken up this roll. We do not, by any means, own DC. If you doubt this, I **_**will**_** come after you with the biggest bazooka I have in my room here in Ruth's mind. And believe me, it's **_**big**_**.**

**Me: Yup, that's Tessa, my other muse. Still wondering if I made the right decision in letting her fill Midori-chan's roll. Now, I'll shut up and let you read.**

_**Chapter 5**_

Later that night, Wataru sat at the table with his father. He couldn't stop thinking about the jade mouse. Just what the heck did those kanji mean?

"What's wrong, Wataru?" His father asked.

"Huh?"

"You've been staring at your favorite meal for the past five minutes. I believe that's enough to make me wonder."

"Oh…it's nothing." Wataru blushed. His father knows him so well. Then he thought about it. _Shinichi-kun believed that we could do this on our own, and he didn't want any help from _his_ otou-san, right?_

_He didn't say anything about _my_ otou-san._

"Ne, Otou-san," Wataru started. "Do you know anything about 'the mouse is first' or something like that?"

His father tapped his chopsticks against his chin, thinking. "Hmmm…I'm not sure. I remember something about the Chinese, but that's all." Wataru sighed. Oh well, at least it's something to start out with.

"Why the sudden interest in mice?" His father asked. Wataru sweated as he quickly shook his head, "It's nothing, just curious, that's all."

The mouse quickly disappeared from his mind as his father asked The Question, "So, how's school?"

Wataru felt his mouth break into a smile, "It was awesome."

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

Shinichi tiptoed down the hall. Yuusaku had said that he'd be in his room. So, according to Shinichi's detection, there should be no one in the study right now.

As he opened the door to the study, he looked back out to make sure that there's nobody in the hall to see him. Then he closed the door. Leaning against the door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his handy mini-flashlight.

_Eto…I'm sure I put it _somewhere_ around here…_ He thought as he looked around for his target. Then he grinned and pulled out the black bed sheet from under the sofa. _Now, I just have to get to the door…_ He placed his flashlight in his mouth and walked back to the door, opening up the sheet as he went. Shinichi knelt in front of the door and began stuffing the sheet into the crack below the door. _…there! Now Tou-san won't be able to see the light seeping through!_ Shinichi thought proudly as he reached up to the light switch and turned the light on.

In front of him were rows and rows of books. Shinichi looked up at the books for the nth time in his still-early life and marveled, for the nth time as well, at the wall of books that's in the study. It never ceased to amaze him just how many books the Kudou household holds.

Shaking away his stupor, Shinichi walked over to the encyclopedias section. He ran his finger over the binds of the Japanese Britannicas, looking for the hiragana he wanted. _There's "ka"…and there's "ta"…so, right after that…_ His finger stopped at the volume that started with "na" and ended with "no". Taking it out, he flipped to the desired page.

"Natsu…namae…nii…Nippon…neko…" He murmured the words as he flipped past them. He then smiled when his word, "nezumi", came up before him. Then he gagged.

The paragraphs were almost entirely in kanji!

Even if he's smarter than most kids in his class, there's no way he would be able to read this all and understand it.

Shinichi thought fast. If he couldn't read this, then the only other person right now is…

No. Not going to Yuusaku. Never.

Shinichi sighed as he closed the encyclopedia and placed it back on the shelf.

"Shinichi?"

Shinichi jumped and the book, half way into its place, fell back out. He slowly turned around and came face to face with an amused Yuusaku at the door.

"T-Tou-san! What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to finish my manuscripts here, that's all." Yuusaku answered. Then he casted a suspicious look on his son. "What are _you_ doing in the study so late? You _do_ have school tomorrow, you know."

"Eh…betsuni…I was just looking for the book I needed for school!" Shinichi quickly thought of the excuse. Yuusaku continued to eye him suspiciously. His son could be telling the truth……that, or he had spent way too much time with his mother.

"Honto?" Yuusaku prodded. Shinichi nodded and grabbed the Britannica from the floor. "See? I've found it! I'm going back to bed now."

As he ran out of the study and down the hall with the heavy book under his arm, Shinichi sighed. _Well, maybe I can ask Wataru-senpai to read this tomorrow._

Yuusaku watched his son disappear beyond the door. He knew that his son was lying to him. Frankly, he didn't think any Grade 1 teachers would want their students reading a kanji-filled encyclopedia.

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

The next day, Wataru sighed and sat down against the tree. Eating lunch here was always fun. And now that Kurosawa wasn't around to spoil it, Wataru is enjoying every moment of it.

He was about to put his second piece of meat into his mouth when he saw Shinichi running across the playground with a really heavy-looking book in his arms. "Shinichi-kun!"

The young boy stopped and swept his head from side to side to see the person that had called him. He smiled and ran over to Wataru when he saw him. "Wataru-senpai! I've been looking for you!"

"You have?" Wataru blinked. Shinichi panted for a few seconds before straightening up. "I need you to read this to me." He said as he opened the book to the page he had marked last night. Wataru stared at the page about mice and asked, "Shinichi-kun, where on earth did you get this?"

"From my house."

"You have a Britannica at your house?"

"We have the full set." Shinichi said proudly as Wataru stared at the book in disbelief. "Anyways, you have to read this. It might have some sort of clue to our mouse mystery."

Wataru scanned the paragraph and frowned.

_Let's see… "A mouse is a small animal that belongs to one of numerous species of rodents. It is also a popular pet. Although mice may live up to two and a half years in the lab, the average mouse in the wild only lives about 4 months, primarily owning to heavy predation. Cats, wild dogs, foxes, birds of prey, snakes and even certain kinds of insects have been known to prey heavily upon mice. Nevertheless, because of its remarkable adaptability to almost any environment, and its ability to live commensally with humans, the mouse is regarded to be the second most successful mammalian genus living on earth today, after humans."…what?_

"Ano…Shinichi-kun, I don't think we're going to find anything we need here." Wataru said as he finished one paragraph. Shinichi sighed. But he didn't want to give up. He didn't chance getting found out by Yuusaku _and_ kill his back taking the Britannica to school for nothing.

"Let's go to the bookstore again after school." Shinichi said. When Wataru gave him a puzzled look, he added, "Maybe we can find more about the mouse there."

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

"This is beautiful."

Shinichi and Wataru heard as they walked into the bookstore. They looked at each other before ducking behind a shelf and peering around the corner.

"Do you know what it is, Iwamoto?"

"No, but I sure wish it was mine."

Haruzame was standing there with another man. The stranger was about Haruzame's age, and he was flipping the jade mouse they found yesterday over and over in his hands, examining every detail of it.

"Haruzame-san!" Shinichi suddenly popped up from their hiding place, nearly scaring Wataru to death. But he quickly pulled himself together and stood up along with Shinichi.

"Who is that man?" Shinichi asked as he pointed to the stranger. Haruzame smiled, "This is Iwamoto. He's an old friend of mine."

Wataru wondered away from the group and wondered to the shelf he found the mouse. Unbeknownst to him though, a creature was crouching just beyond the next shelf.

"_Meeerow!_"

"AAAH!" Wataru cried where the dark blue fur ball attacked him. This, of course, made him lose his balance and he staggered back, only to fall into the bookshelf behind him. As for what happened next, well, let's just say that it's a good thing that the shelf wasn't too high, and that the distance between each shelf wasn't too close.

"Wataru-senpai! Daijoubu ka?" Shinichi said as he ran up to his friend. Wataru sat up from the sea of books and rubbed his head. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay." Haruzame had followed the young boy, and he chuckled when he saw the scene. "Looks like you've met Ao-chan." The man pushed up his glasses before picking up the cat.

"Ho-honto ni gomenasai!" Wataru said when he saw the mess he had created. Haruzame just chuckled again. "Nah, it doesn't matter. Just help me clean the mess up." Then Wataru and Shinichi began picking up the books along with Haruzame, while Iwamoto just stood of to the side, watching.

Wataru sighed and pouted a little. Why do these things always happen to him?

Then he noticed something glinting in the light. Curious, he pulled it out.

"Hey, check it out! It's another jade statue!" Shinichi was immediately next to him. It was another statue, alright. Though this time, it's one of a dragon. "Does it have anything engraved on it?" Shinichi asked. Wataru turned it over. He frowned. "Well…I can read the 'five'…but I don't think I've ever seen this other kanji before."

"What are you saying? If it's a dragon and has a five like you said, it should be 'ryuu-go', right?"

"But that's just it. This kanji isn't 'ryuu'. It has much more strokes to it." Shinichi ran his hand trough his pocket and pulled out a notepad and a pencil. Then he copied the unknown kanji to a blank page. He frowned, too. "You're right. This kanji isn't 'ryuu'." The two boys continued to stare at their own copy of the kanji when a hand suddenly reached out and took the dragon out of Wataru's hand. "Aah…"

"Lemme see that." Iwamoto said. The man turned it over like he did with the mouse.

Wataru watched the man. He didn't really like him. Then he thought of something and turned to Shinichi. "You know, my father said something about the Chinese. Do you think there's any connection there?" Shinichi thought hard before shaking his head, "If there is, Tou-san never told me about it."

"Yuusaku-san tells you about these kinds of things on regular basis?"

"Yeah, why?" Shinichi asked, puzzled by Wataru's question. Wataru just looked at him weirdly. Then he sighed and shook his head. "I give up. What else does your family do that regular families don't?" When Shinichi just looked at him blankly, Wataru sighed again. "Never mind."

After they finished clearing up the books, Shinichi and Wataru were on their way home. "Hey, Wataru-senpai, why don't you come to my house tomorrow? We can do some more research."

"Sure."

"Hey! Maybe you can even come spend the night! I'm sure your tou-san won't disagree, right?"

Wataru pondered. They weren't doing anything tomorrow, and tomorrow's Friday, which, of course, is also the last day of school before spring break. "I'll ask Otou-san about it."

Well, spending a day with the Kudous won't be _too_ un-normal, right?

_**To be continued…**_

**Disclaimer 2: The paragragh about the mouse is taken from Wikipedia, give or take a few phrases. okay, more like take a _lot_ of phrases. XD**

**It's done! This is the farthest I have ever ventured in all my chapter stories! Woohoo!**

**You know, just the next day of the day I posted chapter 4, I found out that I had gotten 12 reviews. Wow. That's like the most reviews I have ever gotten in such a short time! That just proves what most people are doing on Christmas Eve. XD**

**Although this is a little off topic (er…story), would the reader of this story please read my other stories? Please?**

**I love reviews. Don't flame though, or I'll sic Tessa on you. Believe me, **_**not**_** something you want.**

**~ruth~**

**Next up: Just what is that mysterious kanji? Truths will be revealed as Wataru and Shinichi take another step into this mystery. Oh, and there will be two surprise guests coming!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ahhh! I'm one day behind schedule!!!!!!! No!!!!! DX**

**Ahem, I'm soooo sorry for the delay! It's just that, with new years and all I haven't been able to finish this chapter before yesterday. I'm soooo sorry!**

**Review replies!**

_**The Shang Kudarung**_**- WATA-CHIBI-PLUSHIE-CHAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!*glomps* Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you soooo much! Wata-chibi-plushie: Can't…breathe…**

_**Takashi-neesan**_**- Hey there! Thanks so much for reading! And thank you for your compliment on my grammar!**

_**Merialle**_**- I am trying very hard to keep up with my an-update-per-four-days policy. And you'll just have to read the chapter to find out who the surprise guests are.**

_**Yin7**_**- Yup, they're going to be good friends. Thanks for reading!**

_**Katiesparks**_**- I'm sorry to say this, but I'm more used to writing about non-main characters. I mean the MAJOR ones. I'm always afraid that I'd screw them up or something. I'm already taking a big step by writing about Shinichi. Don't want to venture into Heiji's or Kaito's mind before I'm ready yet. Who know **_**what**_** I'd find in there. Besides, what would Heiji be doing all the way in Tokyo, anyways? XD**

_**Nataeiy1**_**- No, no! I'm not saying it's bad or anything. You can guess all you want! Really! I don't mind! Besides, you can be a good helper in letting me know if I'm a good suspense writer or not. But then again, if your mind is like Shinichi's, then that's hardly necessary. XD**

_**Yolapeoples**_**- Well, I have the upper hand in this because I know Chinese. XD I'm sorry if you find things hard to follow, though. I'll try to make it understandable to people who know no Japanese or Chinese whatsoever.**

_**Miyanoai**_**- If he knocked over those shelves, I'll give him a million yen and tell him to go on a trip around the world. XD**

_**Ziraulo**_**- You'll know who the guests are as soon as you begin to read the chapter! And Tessa is my supposedly American cartoon muse, while Midori-chan is my anime/manga one. Midori-chan got sick a while ago, so Tessa's filling up the roll of the disclaimer.**

_**Shinigami**_**- That'll come along later. Thanks for reading, BTW!**

**Me: Hey Tessa! The Shang Kudarung said hi!**

**Tessa: Hey. Anyways, don't own DC. And Midori-chan, **_**stop poking me in the ribs!!!**_

**Midori: But I wanna do the disclaimeeeeer. Ah-CHOOO!**

_**Chapter 6**_

The next day of school was like a blur. Wataru barely remembered what the teachers were saying. Oh well, it's most likely about things like what not to do and where not to go during spring break, or wishing everyone a happy rest of the following week.

Wataru was very happy when he heard the bell ring.

His father had immediately agreed to his little trip to Shinichi's house. His father was glad that Wataru was finally getting along with some friends. Of course, Wataru didn't let his father know that said friend was a head shorter than him and came from an extraordinary family.

_Very_ extraordinary family.

Gathering the things on his desk, he stuffed them in his backpack and looked over the things he had brought for his night at Shinichi's house. Upon seeing that everything was in place, he happily closed the backpack and got out of the classroom.

Shinichi was waiting for him by the main gate, continuously kicking a soccer ball against the wall. "Shinichi-kun!" Wataru called and ran up to him. Shinichi stopped the ball at his feet and smiled up at the taller boy. "Hey, Wataru-senpai! It took you forever. Let's go!" He dribbled the soccer ball as he began to walk away. Wataru looked at him with interest, "You like soccer?"

"Yeah! It's the best sport in history!" Shinichi replied as he kicked the ball a few times before kicking it up and balancing it on his head. Wataru found himself again marveling at all the things Shinichi could do.

"Ne, what do you think that kanji is?" Shinichi suddenly asked. Wataru snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, the kanji…I don't know. I flipped through that Elementary Dictionary that the school gave us, but I couldn't find it anywhere."

Shinichi frowned, letting the ball fall from his head and unto his knee. He began bouncing it. "It's weird. Why is there a kanji that we can't read? I mean, most kanjis were already taught in Grade 6, right?" Wataru nodded.

"Then why can't you find it?"

"Wakarana-"

Wataru's response was cut off by a yelp when someone bumped into him while they were turning around the corner. He fell back onto the ground and held his face, the part of his body that had received most of the impact.

"Ah! Gomenasai!" A voice said. Wataru opened one eye to look at the one that had run in to him. He froze.

"Daijoubu ka, boya? I'm _so_ sorry. I wasn't really watching where I was going." In front of him stood a girl with short, dark hair. Unconsciously, Wataru read the tag on the girl's backpack. _"…Middle School Grade 2 Class F…"_ The name was out of his line of vision.

"Heh…you're from Teitan Elementary, eh? I used to go there, too." The girl said. It took Wataru a while to realize that she could see the tag on _his_ backpack, too. "That means I'm your senpai, ne?" The girl winked her huge violet eyes. Wataru blushed.

"What grade are you in?" The girl asked casually.

"S-six…" He stuttered, face turning redder by the second. The girl giggled, "You're so cute."

Three words, that's all it took. Wataru's eyes took shape of tiny dots, and he could _feel_ his face turning beet red.

"Hola, Miwako!" Wataru was vaguely aware of a long-haired girl's words. "Come on! The bus is leaving!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." The girl in front of him replied, and then she turned to him. "Really sorry about that, boya. Bye!" And with that, the girl left and hurried after the other girl onto the bus, protesting as they went, "Mou, Yumi, you really have no patience at all…"

Wataru, still on the ground, watched as the bus drove away.

"Yoo-hoo…earth to Wataru-senpai!"

"Huh?" Wataru blinked. He hadn't heard Shinichi call him. In fact, he had forgotten all about the short friend of his. Shinichi leaned into his face with a toothy smirk. "Wataru-senpai…you're blu-u-ushing!" He sang. Which, of course, made Wataru blush even more (if that's even possible) as he quickly shook his head, "Chi-chigau, it's not like that…"

But Shinichi was already bouncing down the street with the soccer ball in his hands, singing for the entire world to hear, "Wataru-senpai is in LO-O-O-OVE!!!!"

"Shi-Shinichi-kun!"

And a game of cat and mouse began.

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

When they finally settle down, they were already in front of Shinichi's house. Wataru took one look at it and _gaped_. "Th-that's your house?"

"Yup." Shinichi said proudly. "Now, you can close your mouth so that we can go in?" Wataru shook his head. Of _course_ they lived in a mansion. With Yuusaku-san being who he is…it's not…it _shouldn't be_ so surprising.

As he followed Shinichi into the house, he prepared himself for what he's about to see inside.

"Tadaima!" He and Shinichi chorused as they walked through the door. When no one responded them, Shinichi frowned. "Weird, Tou-san _said_ he'd be home…" They left their shoes and the ball at the door and wandering into the house. When Shinichi got to the door of the study, a piece of paper could be seen taped to the frame. "Eh?" Shinichi ripped the paper from its place and read it with Wataru reading over his shoulder.

"_Shinichi,_

_The editors are coming here. Going out to hide. There are some cookies in the fridge. Sorry I couldn't make it. Tell Wataru-kun I said hi._

_Tou-san"_

The boys stared at the paper for a few seconds before Shinichi's mouth broke into a smirk. "Well, at least that means he won't be trying to cook anything."

"Shinichi-kun…"

"Eh?"

"There's something on the other side…"

Frowning, Shinichi turned the paper over.

"_PS- by the way, look up the Chinese Zodiac. That will help."_

This time, Shinichi pouted, "He found out!" Then he raised an eyebrow. "What's Zodiac?" Wataru thought for a moment, "Well, I remember learning about it in history class. It's something about the Chinese having twelve animals for each year in order. And the first one was…" His eyes widened when it hit him, "…the mouse!"

Several minutes later, after Wataru was done gaping at the Wall of Books (it shall be forever capitalized like that in his mind) in the study, they were on the ground, looking at the Chinese Zodiac chart they found in one of the Britannicas.

"Okay, so in order, we have the mouse, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the ram, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig." Shinichi concluded as he copied the kanjis from the book into his notepad. "But, if the fifth really is the dragon, then why doesn't the kanji match?" He frowned as he compared the kanji "ryuu" to the one he had copied earlier from the jade statue.

"You know…" Wataru said, a hand to his chin, thinking.

"Nani?"

"…could it be that it's written in Chinese?" He took the kanji of the statue out of Shinichi's hand and looked at it. "My sensei told us that even though most of our kanjis came from China, we simplified some of them. Could it be that this kanji is actually the traditional way to write 'ryuu'?"

Shinichi frowned. Then he went to the Wall of Books and took out a Chinese-Japanese dictionary. Wataru fought the urge to ask just what books do they _not_ have.

"It's a match!" Shinichi cried happily as he compared the copied kanji to the one in the dictionary.

"So, if we have the mouse and the dragon, this means there must be ten more, right?" Wataru concluded. "Do we have to search the entire bookstore for them?"

"Ia." Shinichi replied as he flipped to a new page in her notebook and began drawing a diagram of the bookstore. "Most of the shelves in the bookstore were arranged vertically. There are five in the back and four in the second row, counting from the back, with two each on the either side of the big square show-case in the middle." Shinichi said as he drew.

"But the four shorter ones that are in front of the counter were placed horizontally, with two each at both sides of an opening. There are also two longer shelves in front of the four horizontal shelves, placed horizontally as well. This…" Shinichi wrote a one on the most top left shelf. "…was where you found the mouse. And this…" Shinichi wrote a five on the shelf that's on the bottom left of the one-shelf. "…was the one you knocked over."

"Demo, Shinichi-kun, there are fifteen shelves in total. We only need twelve, right?" Wataru asked.

"Oi, we're not sure that it's one statue per shelf yet." Shinichi said with half-moon eyes. Then they looked intently at the diagram he had drawn. Wataru frowned. "This doesn't make any sense. If we assume that the statues were hidden in order, then the dragon should have been in the fifth shelf, which, depending on how you count it, is either the top right one or the one next to the one-shelf." Wataru pointed at the two afore mentioned shelves. "So, why is it in the one that's bottom right to the one-shelf?"

They two boys stared at the diagram for a few more minutes, each processing any possibility that they might have missed.

"…ne, Wataru-senpai?"

"Eh?"

"What time is it?"

"Eh…ah…" Wataru, a little thrown off by this off-topic question, quickly looked at his watch. "…it's…it's almost five thirty."

"Well…Tou-san usually buys dinner at seven thirty…which means we have two hours. Let's go to the book store again."

Wataru decided not to ask what he meant by "usually buys dinner".

_**To be continued…**_

**Hah! It was Satou Miwako and Miyamoto Yumi! Give it up for the future policewomen! Woohoo!**

**Is it just me, or are my Author's Notes longer than before? XD**

**Yes, I decided to make it that Miwako and Yumi knew each other since middle school. And I'm guessing Yumi's age is somewhere between Wataru's and Miwako's, thus making her a seventh grader (middle school year one student).**

**Reviews are much loved!**

**~ruth~**

**Next up: They have found what the kanji stand for! Now, all they have to do is find the other statues! But what is this feeling? It's like someone's watching…**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm keeping up with the schedule again! =3**

**I'm sorry if some chapters seem a little boring, but they're essential! The exciting things always come after the boring things, ne?**

**Review Replies!**

_**Nataeiy1**_**- Thanks, I was working really hard on getting the moment to be not too abnormal. Looks like I did it!**

_**The Shang Kudarung**_**- Now that you mention it…Kaitou KID's and Tuxedo Kamen's uniforms **_**are**_**a complete mirror of each other! Not counting the monocle and the mask, that is. XD**

_**Yolapeoples**_**- Whew, that's good to hear. Love your Bumper Stickers story, BTW!**

_**Shinigami**_**- …that's…a long review. XD I can't reveal anything, though. It'll spoil the surprise.**

_**Katiesparks**_**- Demo, Katie-chan, I just don't have the talent that you have! You can capture the characters soooo well! Especially in Snapshots! *nods***

_**Miyanoai**_**- …is your review unfinished? I'm just going to guess that that line made you laugh. =D**

_**Ziraulo**_**- Yes! Vaccinate all of them before the cold plagues your place!**

_**YoshimiKurosaki**_**- I…don't really have anything to say to that. XD Thanks for reading!**

_**Vixeriffic**_**- Actually, that's the only time he'll ever be meeting Miwako before he became a keiji. I think I said too much. XD As for the Yuusaku thing…well…Yuusaku was staring at his manuscripts when opening the door to the study so his didn't notice! See, completely explainable! XD**

**Midori: I'm back, minna-san! Thanks to Ruth-sama's care and The Shang Kudarung's coffee and hug (and some horribly handmade get-well cards from Tessa-san)…**

**Tessa: Hey, I tried!**

**Midori: …anyways, I'm all better now! We do not own Detective Conan!**

**Me: See? Midori-chan's back! Oh, and Kudarung-san, don't call Tessa with any honorifics. The only one who's qualified enough to do that is Midori-chan… (Even I can't do that…and I'm her creator…)**

_**Chapter 7**_

There were more people in the store this time. _Maybe because it's Friday._Wataru thought as he noted the unusual amount of people in here. Most of the people were in the Desk Area (which is in the inner part of the store), reading whatever books they had found. Shinichi and Wataru walked straight into the Book Area.

"This is the shelf you found the mouse, ne?" Shinichi said as they stopped at the top left corner.

"Hai." Wataru said as he unconsciously let his feet take him to the spot where the mouse was found.

"And that, is the shelf I knocked over yesterday." Wataru said as he pointed towards the said shelf. He and Shinichi both looked that way, and Shinichi frowned.

"This isn't enough. We don't even know where to start looking!" Shinichi cried as he put a hand to his forehead, trying to think. "There _has_ to be a pattern in this somehow, but what?"

As the boys stood there, trying to think this out again, a voice cut into their train of thoughts.

"Ah, Shinichi-kun," It said. They both turned their heads to look at the source of it. It was Nikiyo. "Wataru-kun, too? You two seem to be hanging around a lot."

"Wataru-senpai is going to spend a night at my house tonight." Shinichi replied. "Oh really? Hope you have a good time there, boya." Nikiyo said as he ruffled the older boy's hair, then he leaned into his ear, "Just between you and me, never stay in the kitchen alone with Yuusaku-sensei, he might blow you up."

"B-blow me up?" Wataru stammered. Nikiyo just shrugged, "Or himself up. It depends on what he's trying to cook."

Ah, so that's why Shinichi said "usually buys dinner".

"So, why did you come today? I don't see Yuusaku-sensei around." Nikiyo asked them. "Wataru-senpai and I are looking for something." Shinichi said. Then he stared at the books in the bookshelf, his eyes widening as if he had realized something. Wataru and Nikiyo both looked quizzically at his expression when Shinichi suddenly turned to Nikiyo, "Ne, Nikiyo-san, how are the books arranged?"

Nikiyo, a little taken back by his urgent tone, thought for a moment, "Well, they're arranged by hiragana, of course. This shelf you're standing at starts with 'a'. And that one…" Nikiyo pointed to one Wataru had knocked over the day before, "…starts with 'ga'."

Shinichi had already whipped out the notepad and flipped to the page of the diagram, writing down the hiragana to the shelves that were mentioned. "Arigatou, Nikiyo-san. This is a really big help to us!"

"This is?" Wataru, feeling completely out of the loop, asked. What does the arrangement of the books have to do with this?

"We're going to the desk area to do some researching, ja ne!" Shinichi said as he grabbed Wataru by his wrist and led him to the desk area.

"Ano, Shinichi-kun? What was that all about?" Wataru asked after they settled down at one of the desks. Shinichi just shot him another question without answering Wataru's, "Ne, Wataru-senpai, count to ten, will you?"

"To ten? Doushite?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay…ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyu, ju." Shinichi wrote them down it hiragana as he counted. Then he looked at the diagram again. A smile of victory appeared on his face. "Souka! Wagata zou!"

"What did you get?"

"Mitte!" Shinichi said excitedly as he pointed to the hiragana of the numbers. "The mouse is the first one, right?" Wataru nodded. "And 'ichi', when written in hiragana, starts with 'i'. Now, the shelf that you found the mouse in…" he pointed to the said shelf in the diagram, "…has books with titles beginning from 'a' and ending at 'o'!"

Realization dawned Wataru. "Souka…and the dragon's 'go' starts with 'go'…and it's found in the bookshelf that begins with 'ga'!"

"Exactly!" Shinichi was grinning (or smirking, whichever you prefer) from ear to ear. "So, according to this, 'ni' and 'nana' should be in the shelves that begin with 'na', 'san' should be in the 'sa' shelf…"

"…'yon' should be in the 'ya' shelf, and so on and so forth, ne, Shinichi-kun?"

"Un!" Shinichi nodded. "Let's go find which hiragana the other bookshelves start with!"

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

For the next few minutes, Shinichi and Wataru had looked through all of the book shelves.

"So, going from left to right on the last row with the five vertical shelves, it's arranged like this: 'a', 'sa', 'za', 'ta', and 'da'. The second row with the four vertical shelves with the show case in the middle, it's 'ka', 'ga', 'na', and 'ha'.

"The two longer horizontal shelves contain two sets each, one with 'ba' and 'pa', while the other with 'ma' and 'ya'. As for the four smaller horizontal shelves, one can only contain three hiraganas. The one that's on the most left has 'ra', 'ri', and 'ru'. The next one has 'ru', 're', and 'wa'.

"The ones that are to the right of the opening contain only English books. So I guess we can rule out those two, right?" Wataru asked when he finished analyzing what they had sorted out. Shinichi nodded. "Let's look for them in the left half of the store today."

The left half of the store had the shelves that began with "a", "sa", "ka", "ga", "ba", "ra", and "re", but that doesn't matter. If their deduction was correct, they would only need to look in the "sa" shelf, "ka" shelf, and "re" shelf. As for the "za" shelf that's kind of in the middle, Shinichi had decided that they'll look in that shelf today, too.

Wataru had just found the third statue, the tiger. He triumphantly held up the statue and smiled. _One down, nine to go._Wataru stood up and turned to go to the "ka" shelf. The ninth one, the monkey, should be there.

That's when he felt it. It almost made him drop the jade tiger he was holding.

The phrase "feel one's eyes on you" became all too literal when it came to Wataru. He had always been able to feel another person's gaze on him. And what's more, he can _tell_ what kind of gaze it is. It's something like a sixth sense he had developed since kindergarten.

He thought he had felt them all. Glares, proud ones, loving ones, envious ones, curious ones, fascinated ones, all of them.

But never before had he felt one so _threatening_ and _dangerous_.

The look itself was bad enough to send a chill down Wataru's spine, but the feeling it was coated with chilled him to the very core.

He fought the urge to look around and crouched down behind the shelves. As long as the person couldn't see him, the feeling will vanish on its own.

As he looked for the monkey statue, he could help but think of the feeling. _Why would anyone have those kinds of feeling towards me? What did I do wrong?_

He was reluctant to stand up when he found the monkey statue. So he half crawled to where Shinichi was. "Shinichi-kun!"

Shinichi only had one statue with him. It was the snake. He pouted a little when he saw Wataru, "Hey, no fair, you've found more than I do!"

"Shi-Shinichi-kun…I've got a bad feeling about this…" Wataru said nervously. Shinichi looked at him weirdly, "Oi, we still have seven more to find! Don't back out now." He walked over to the "za" shelf. Wataru stood up to follow him, but he immediately regretted it.

The feeling's still there!

It was so intent that Wataru was sure a normal person could have felt it, too. "Ne, Shinichi-kun…don't you feel anything?"

"No. Why?"

"Ia, betsuni." Wataru thought quickly. _Why can't Shinichi-kun feel it?! Only a real slow person wouldn't be able to feel that, and Shinichi-kun certainly isn't slow…so that means… the person couldn't see Shinichi-kun!_

Wataru immediately shook his head._But that's impossible! The shelves are only a bit higher than Shinichi-kun; any normal adult would have been able to spot him immediately when he's standing up, like right now. Unless the person is really short, or…_

His eyes widened with realization. _… Or he's sitting down!_ He quickly glanced over to the Desk Area, looking for the pair of eyes that are focused on him. But, as he had expected, the feeling evaporated as soon as he looked at the Desk Area's direction.

_Kuso…There's too many people there. I can't pinpoint the gaze!_ He clenched his fists. _Itai…dare ka?_

"Wataru-senpai!" Shinichi shouted, "C'mon! I've already found the rooster!" Wataru shook himself out of it and went to help Shinichi.

But the feeling was there whenever he stood up.

Five minutes later, they uncovered the eleventh and twelfth statues, the dog and the pig.

"Well, that's it for today!" Shinichi said happily as he looked at the six statues they had uncovered today. "Ah, it's already seven! Let's go back, Wataru-sen…" Shinichi trailed off when he saw that Wataru wasn't listening to him at all. The older boy was looking uneasily at the Desk Area.

"Wataru-senpai?" Shinichi tugged at Wataru's hand. Wataru seemed to snap out of it as he suddenly bobbed and turned his head to look at Shinichi. "We need to go home now!" Shinichi tried again.

"Oh, right..." Wataru responded, but he turned his head to the Desk Area again, this time gaining Shinichi's interest. "Is there something there?"

"No…not really…" Wataru replied, and then he grabbed Shinichi's hand. "Here, do something for me, will you?"

"Eh?"

"Here." He led the younger boy to the counter, where the Desk Area wasn't blocked by the shelves. Then he faced the Desk Area while having Shinichi face himself. "Stand here." Wataru could still feel the gaze. As long as the person doesn't look away, then maybe…

He almost sighed with relief when Shinichi's expression changed. The future meitantei had quickly whipped his head around towards the Desk Area. _He…he felt it, too. Whew, that means the person, whoever it is, isn't just glaring at me. He's glaring at _us_._

_Demo…naze da?_

_**To be continued…**_

**Ah…I'm sorry if Shinichi seemed a little oblivious in this chapter! If you have to, blame his shortness as a seven-year-old. XD**

**I think my hits counter in my profile page is broken…I mean, there were nine reviews, but only five hits to chapter 6…How is that even possible?!**

**Oh, and BTW, if there is any point that you don't understand, you can always complain. They're not counted as flames! =D**

**Reviews please!**

**~ruth~**

**Next up: Six down, four to go. Shinichi and Wataru discover something shocking as they continue to dig into this mess. And who is the mysterious person that's glaring at them, anyways?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I know I have been a jerk for not updating for…almost two months. *winces***

**Since I do not believe in excuses (total lie XD), I'll just save it all and tell every one of you I'm very, truly, deeply, honestly, really, sincere-**

**Tessa: Just get on with it before you use up every adjective in the dictionary!!!**

**Right. Anyways, I'm very sorry. I've had this huge writer's block after the exams (which were a month ago), so I've been trying to re-spark my inspiration for this fic. I promise I'm going to finish it! But, now the updates might have longer gaps in between. I hope you can all cope with that.**

**And since I lost the idea of the whole "something shocking" thing mentioned in the Next Up in the last chapter, I wrote about my own little world of what I think Wataru's life was like. Hope you all like it!**

**Late (very, very, **_**very**_** late) review replies!**

_**Yolapeoples**_**- Thanks so much for willing to wait until now. And you're welcome!**

_**Katiesparks**_**- Okay…I'll try Heiji. Kaito is still a bit foreign to me. BUT, it'll have to be after I finish this. And who know when **_**that's**_** gonna happen? XD**

_**The**__**Shang**__**Kudarung**_**- So that's what happens in January? Interesting…thanks for the tip! =D (Oh, and **_**me want cookie!!!!**_**)**

_**Nataeiye1**_**- Down, girl. All will be revealed in time. XD**

_**Miyanoai**_**- Yesh! I'm going to throw you all into my awesome knowledge of Japanese! *insert evil laughter here* XD**

_**Shinigami**_**- Don't worry. The BO is not in any way responsible for this, I can assure you that much. As for the rest, well, I'll just have to keep you guessing, won't I? XD**

_**Ziraulo**_**- Aw shucks. You flatter me. There are people out there who write much better than me. =D**

_**Master of Toast**_**- First, I love your stories. They're good. I love MPD Vampires the most. You need to write more (says the one who's been on this site for more than three years but had just begun posting stories. XD). Second, thank you. And it's okay, you don't need to go through all the trouble in reviewing every chapter. Really, you don't.**

**Midori: Don't own Detective Conan!**

_**Chapter 8**_

That night, Wataru lay on his bed in the guest room he's staying in.

Staring up at the ceiling, his mind drifted back to the search they had in the bookstore. A shiver went down his spine when he remembered the gaze he felt.

What really scared him back then was that even though they left the store, he could still feel that gaze. Yet every time he turns around to look, it disappears. It nearly drove him crazy. The feeling kept nagging him until they turned the corner.

_Why?_ He thought. _Why is someone looking at us with such a…_evil_ intention? What on earth did we do wrong?_

_Is going back to the bookstore really a good idea?_ Questions swirled around in his mind as he drifted into sleep.

The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself staring into huge blue orbs at an extremely too-close-for-comfort range.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed as he abruptly sat up from his position. Then he got a good look at his "attacker".

"Shinichi-kun! Don't do that! I thought you promised not to the first time we were at the store!"

Shinichi was sitting on his body horseback-riding style and looking at his with a smug expression. He placed his hands on the back of his head and smirked, "I stuck out my tongue and said 'Gomen'. I didn't say anything about not doing it again."

Wataru grabbed his pillow and toss it at the younger kid, hitting Shinichi square in the face. In the process of doing so, Shinichi fell back unto the bed.

As Wataru laughed out his victory, he didn't notice Shinichi's hand inch slowly to the pillow that's lying on his face.

"HA!" Shinichi cried as he suddenly sat up and threw the pillow back at Wataru.

A pillow fight that nearly tore up the guest room ensued.

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

Yuusaku groaned. This was _not_ what he had expected to wake up to on a peaceful Saturday morning.

If you can even call it _peaceful_, that is.

He had been awakened by the commotion coming from the guest room (and considering that his room is at the opposite end of the hallway, that's pretty impressive). When he ran there, he was greeted with a site he didn't know whether to laugh or yell at.

Feathers were flying everywhere. Somehow, the "back up pillows", as Yuusaku liked to call them, had found their way out of the closet and are now in several white pieces and pillow cases across the room. Two boys lay on top of each other in the middle of the room, laughing hysterically together. Each one of them still had a pillow case in one of their hands. _Pillow CASE_. Yuusaku thought in dismay as he replayed that thought in his mind again.

"Shinichi…" Yuusaku slowly said as he rubbed his temples. _Great, a headache so early in the morning. I'll never finish my manuscripts today._

The laughter died almost immediately as the two boys slowly turned their heads towards the door.

"T-Tou-san!" Shinichi cried.

"Yu-Yuusaku-san!" Wataru squeaked at the same time.

A still air-born feather floated down to Yuusaku's head. Yuusaku tried to shake it off, but the feather stubbornly stayed on his head. The scene was enough to put the boys back into another set of laughing fit.

Despite his tries to stop it, a smile settled itself on Yuusaku's face. _Oh well, I'll just get them to clean up afterwards._ He watch his son laugh with the other boy he had befriended only last Tuesday. _I haven't seen Shinichi this happy ever since we went to see the others off at the airport._

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

After breakfast (and after cleaning up the mess in the guest room), the boys went to Shinichi's room and locked the door.

Shinichi reached into his backpack and fished out all the small statues. One by one, he put then on the floor in order.

The first one was the mouse, then the tiger, the dragon, the snake, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig.

"We still have the ox, the rabbit, the horse, and the ram." Shinichi stated as he checked the list he had copied from the Britannica. Wataru picked up the dragon one, the one he's more fond of (he did find it, albeit it was more of an accident). He looked at it and examined the fine details carved out of the dark green stone. Even the scales are all carefully crafted to look real.

He turned the dragon around and around in his hands while Shinichi jotted down things unto his notepad.

After a few minutes, Shinichi snapped shut the notepad and put it back into his pocket. "Let's go to the book store in the afternoon."

"Afternoon?" Wataru asked, even though he felt relieved in the inside. "Why not now?"

"Because I remembered that I had something to do first." Shinichi said. But in truth, he had sensed Wataru's uneasiness back at bookstore. So he decided to postpone their trip.

"Wataru-senpai?" Shinichi asked after a long period of silence.

"What is it?"

"Did you always live in Beika?"

"No." Wataru said. "Why?"

"Nothing, just wanted to know more about you, that's all."

"Oh." Wataru thought about it. Why not? It's not like he's got anything to do right now. He placed the dragon back with the others and let himself fall back to the floor, his hands tucked beneath his head.

"I used to live in Kyoto. That's where my parents met, actually. I don't really have that much memory of it, since we moved to Tokyo when I was five. But I do remember that every Children's Day, Otou-san and Okaa-san used to hold each of my hands and take me to the festival."

"So, what changed?"

"Huh?"

"You said 'used to', didn't you? That means it doesn't happen anymore, right?"

It never fails to amaze Wataru how observant "Shinichi-kun" can be. "You're right. Things changed. Okaa-san got a job as this huge company. I forgot the name. She apparently did very well in it and rose pretty quickly in the ranks. But at the same time, she got busier and busier. Now, it's almost rare when we have a meal together with all three of us present. She's always away on business trips. Otou-san is trying his best to spend more time with me, but I can tell that he's really busy, too." Wataru stopped his ranting and looked over at the younger boy. Shinichi was staring at the floor, apparently trying to soak all of that in.

"Tou-san always makes time for me." Shinichi said after a moment. "He'd always be there when I need him…even if I didn't _think_ I need him. As for Kaa-san…" Wataru noted a small shudder from his young friend, "…she gives me _too_ much attention."

Wataru raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you say that?"

"Because Kaa-san thinks she needs to go through that process every time she sees me."

"…what process?"

"…" Shinichi went silent, then he laughed. "…you're better off not knowing. Trust me."

Wataru decided not to pursue the matter.

Just as the boys were about to launch into another conversation, something from the kitchen caught their attention.

_**KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!**_

"Mou, not again!" Shinichi groaned as he buried his face into his arms. Wataru, on the other hand, was scared out of his skin. "Wh-what was _that_?!"

"Tou-san vs. 'The Evil Machines in the Kitchen', round 15." Shinichi bluntly stated, his face still in his arms.

Wataru just gave Shinichi an incredulous look.

_**To be continued…**_

**As many of you can tell, this was way shorter compared to all my previous ones. Not counting the first chapter, as it was just a test to see if anyone would want to read this story. XD**

**I tried to make this chapter funnier to make up for all the time it took to have me finally upload this. So, uh…did it work?**

**Again, so sorry for this long wait!**

**Oh, and another thing. OMG CT HAS OVER A THOUSAND HITS!!!!!!!!! 8DDDDD**

***cough* Sorry, but this is great news to some like me who has never continued a story long enough for it to have over a thousand hits.**

**Thanks to all of you readers out there! I luff you! *tries to hug everyone***

**~ruth~**

**Next up: The boys return to the store to find the rest of the statues. As for what'll happen there, that's for you guys to wait for and for me to plan out! XD**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello? Anybody there? I just want to let you guys know that I'm not dead and I'm here with the ninth chapter and **_**Childhood Times**_**!!!!**

**I know it's been almost a year…*hides***

**Tessa: Oh no, you don't! You're going to come out **_**right now**_** and apologize to everyone who has read your story.**

**Yes ma'am. So, I'm so sorry that this took so long. I added a little!Wataru scene in this chapter to make up for that!**

**Review replies!**

_**DetectiveConanFan13**_**- No, thank **_**you**_** for reading and reviewing. And here's the update!**

_**Chibified Ran-chan**_**- Yes. Once. With Yukiko's help. XD**

_**HKPOTLCDCGSNSOHHCSAFAN**_**- I love Wataru, too! That's why I'm writing this! And if you'll notice, all my stories so far revolve around him. Oh, love your username. XD**

_**Thriefty**_**- Well, wait no more! Really, you **_**have**_** already waited for eleven months…**

_**Suigetsudan **_**- I'm glad my sense of humor can be shared. So does this mean I've had that sickness for a year now? XD**

_**Yolapeoples**_**- The fridge? XD**

_**Merialle**_**- He did. But he failed. Three times. XD**

_**Nataeiy1**_**- Hakase would not be taking part in this story, unfortunately. But he will be mentioned! 8D**

_**Ziraulo**_**- They already had breakfast. The "ka-boom" came after that.**

_**Waterdog**_**- I'm flattered that you would want me to be a beta. I'd gladly take up the job, and I promise I won't screw up the updates like I do with my own stories. XD And regarding the question about Wataru's cooking skills, the answer is maybe.**

_**Katiespaks**_**- Dignity? What dignity? XD**

_**Anonymousgir028**_**- Glad that I can bring you amusement!**

_**Sazerac**_**- I know it's you, Shang! Thanks for catching that mistake, but I'm too lazy to change it anyways. XD *munches on the year-old cookie***

**Midori: Ruth-sama has gone into her moping corner in shame of not updating for so long. I'm sorry for the long wait we gave everyone! Hontoni gomenasai! Oh, and we don't own Detective Conan!**

_**Chapter 9**_

After helping Yuusaku clean up the mess in the kitchen, the boys decided that staying in the same house with a hungry but in-hiding Yuusaku would not be the safest thing to do. So Shinichi persuaded his father to give them some cash and took care of their lunch in a nearby Welcome Burgers **(1)**.

"Is Yuusaku-san always like that?" Wataru asked as he tossed their paper wraps and paper cups into the trash can, Shinichi being too short to do it himself. Shinichi shrugged, "It's not much of a big deal. I mean, compared to what Hakase usually blows up, Tou-san's explosions are considered okay."

"…Hakase?"

"He's the old man who lives across the street from us. He's usually thinking up ideas for his inventions, but none of them work properly. Most of them usually end up going 'ka-boom'."

"…Oh, okay." Wataru seriously didn't know how to react to that.

"Well, Kaa-san took him to America, too, so the only explosions you'll hear are Tou-san's kitchen runs." Shinichi said. "Anyways, let's go to the bookstore. I can't wait to find the rest of the statues!"

As Shinichi bounded out of the fast food restaurant, Wataru hesitated. He remembered the hostility of the glare he felt and shivered even though the temperature was no where near cold. He nearly jumped when Shinichi popped back in and called, "C'mon, Wataru-senpai! Someone else might have found them already!" Shaking himself out of the stupor, he smiled weakly and went after the eager younger boy.

_Let's just hope I was thinking too much, ne?_

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

There were even more people in the bookstore then yesterday, Wataru noted. He let out a sigh of relief when he didn't feel the glare. Instead, the only ones he felt were curious ones that settled on them when they came in, disappearing once the ones looking lost interest and went back to whatever they were doing before the two came in.

Wataru smiled wide before turning to Shinichi. "So, which bookshelf should I look into?" Shinichi looked at him, mildly surprised by the change in attitude. _Oh well, if Wataru-senpai's feeling better, I guess that's a good thing._ He smiled back at the taller boy, "You can go look in the 'ha' shelf and 'ma-ya' shelf. I'll go look in the 'na' shelf."

Wataru frowned, "Hey, how come you only need to look in one shelf while I get two?" Shinichi smirked even as he started walking towards his appointed shelf, "Because there are two statues in the 'na' shelf!"

Wataru blinked. Then he blinked again. Shaking his head, he smiled to himself and went to find the rabbit and the ram.

He found the rabbit with no problem at all. It was on behind the first row of books on the "ma-ya" shelf and Wataru had to check twice to make sure it really was the rabbit statue. Feeling happy about the quick find, he got up and jogged to the "ha" shelf. As he began looking for the ram statue, he let his mind wander a bit.

He thought about how his life has changed since meeting the sharp-minded kid. Kudou Shinichi had turned his world around for the best. And now, they are in a treasure hunting adventure that was the most fun he's had in years. He tried to remember the last time he really had any fun at all, and found himself thinking back to a vague memory when he was only four.

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

"_Papa!" Little Wataru cried out in delight. "Look! I can fly!"_

"_Wataru!" The older Takagi paled when he saw his son jumping off a tree branch, holding onto a thick vine that draped down from one of the trees in the dense forest. Forcing himself not to panic, Takagi quickly ran after his airborne son. "Wataru! Get down from there right now!"_

"_Let go?"_

"_Yes, I want you to-" Takagi's eyes widened in horror when he realized what he just said, "NO! Don't let go! Hold on as tightly as you can!"_

"_Okay!" Wataru smiled widely even as he swung to the next branch. Takagi trailed behind him, sighing with relief when his son landed safely on the branch. "Good, very good, Wataru. Now just stay wait, Papa's going to- WAIT!" His cry fell to deaf ears as Wataru grabbed on to the next vine and swung again._

_This time, the vine wasn't thick enough._

"_WATARU!" Takagi screeched when the vine snapped under his son's weight. Rushing forward, the older man managed to catch Wataru before he hit the ground. He accidentally trip over a root and they both tumbled to the ground, stopping when Takagi's back hit one of the tree trunks._

_Panting from the fear he had felt when his son plummeted, Takagi held Wataru close to him. He forced himself to calm down despite still feeling the adrenaline course through his veins. He quickly glanced down at his son, hoping that the younger Takagi was all right. Takagi was surprised to see the boy shaking. Gently, he shifted the small body until he was facing him. The boy's head was hanging low, making it impossible to see his face._

"_Wataru?" Takagi asked softly. Had it been too much? Did the fall scare him enough to traumatize him? Was he crying?_

_One could only imagine how surprised Takagi was when the boy suddenly threw back his head and _laughed_._

"_Wataru?!" Takagi asked again, this time totally bewildered by his son's reaction. Wataru laughed and laughed until tears became visible in his eyes. As the laughs slowly quieted down to giggles, Wataru wiped at the tears and grinned up at his father, "Papa! That was _awesome_! Can we do it again?"_

_Takagi could only stare._

**DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC**

Wataru smiled. The "Vine Incident", as he referred to it as, was one of the few memories he still had of their time in Kyoto **(2)**. He used to wish with all his might that his life could go back as it had been in Kyoto. When his mother wasn't often running off on business trips. When his parents would play with him even if he didn't feel like playing. When the other kids were actually nice to him and he actually had friends.

But now, after meeting Shinichi-kun, his life has taken a turn for the better. He wouldn't mind continuing to live like this. Maybe when Shinichi's mother and friends came back from America, he can meet them and become friends with them, too.

He chuckled at this thought and happily placed the last book on the shelf back to its rightful place. He was about to get back up when realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

Wait, the _last book on the shelf?!_

This wasn't right. How had he come to the last book on the shelf without finding _anything_? Standing up, he quickly to a look at the shelf label to see that this was indeed the shelf he was supposed to look in. Panic rose in him as he went back to double check the shelf. Maybe he had just missed the statue when he was caught up in that flashback.

Ten minutes later, Wataru sank to the floor. It was certain now that there was indeed nothing hidden in the shelf. No jade statues, no carefully sculpted ram, no nothing.

But all the other statues had turned up right where they deducted they would. Why wouldn't this one be here?

Wataru placed a hand to his forehead when he realized something.

He still needed to tell Shinichi about this.

_Shinichi-kun's not going to like this._

_**To be continued…**_

**Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait.**

**(1)- Believe it or not, the restaurant actually exists in the DC world. Ran and Sonoko went to one before they went to clean Shinichi's house in that file where they first met Okiya Subaru.**

**(2)- For those of you that have seen DC movie 7, **_**Crossroad in the Capital City**_**, think of that flashback taking place in that part when Conan and Heiji were chasing the killer through that thick forest with Conan sliding down the trees like he was on a skateboard. Not a scene you can easily forget, if I do say so myself.**

**I went over some of my earlier chapters and noticed that I tend to use a lot of Japanese phrases in their speech. I fixed that in this chapter so more people can actually understand what they're saying. Hope it works.**

**You don't have to review. Just knowing that you read this would be enough for me. 8D**

**~ruth~**

**Next up: One of the statues is missing! I s it really gone? Or did Wataru just miss it? How will Shinichi react to this?**


End file.
